Count Your Blessings
by And Then A Little Dash
Summary: He had forever to live; she wasn't so lucky. So they decided to make the most of the time they had left. A series of short Fiolee one-shots, not necessarily in chronological order.
1. Blessing One- First Impression

_ You never get a second chance to make a good first impression._

_ -Will Rogers_

* * *

Coming to a conclusion about Marshall Lee's first impression of Fionna would be much easier than pinpointing Fionna's first impression of him. To him, she was the naïve little human who had taken residence in his old tree house. Nothing more, nothing less. He kicked her out and that was that.

But to Fionna, he was first a nightmare; then an intruder; then a cruel, unjust monster.

They would set each other straight eventually- Fionna would prove herself to be a brave adventuress, and Marshall Lee would simply turn out to be very mischievous. But until then, they'd see each other as a first impression.

* * *

**End note: **In an attempt to start writing more, I've started this Fiolee drabble series. The goal is to write one per day. How well this will go... well, who knows? I'll do my best.

**Word count (including quote)**: 120


	2. Blessing Two- Beautiful

"_Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."_

_ - Confucius_

* * *

The first time he calls her beautiful, she doesn't understand.

To Fionna, beauty is rarely in appearance. Beauty is in the stroke of a sword, or in the gratitude of a prince saved from the Ice Queen. Beauty is Tree Trunks' freshly baked apple pie and falling asleep with a purring Cake in her arms. But most of all, beauty is on the inside.

Beauty, Marshall Lee tells her, is on the outside, too. Beauty is the light of the full moon. It's the vivid shade of red he loves so much- the same shade that Fionna tends to blush; the way her eyes light up when she smiles; and most of all, it's Fionna- in and of herself.

His favorite cherry red stains her cheeks for hours after.

* * *

**Word Count (including quote): **139


	3. Blessing Three- Mock

_"Ah, pay no heed if your enemies laugh. They'll not be able to once you lop off their heads."_

_- Christopher Paolini_

* * *

Fionna has never seemed like much of a threat to Marshall Lee. Of course, he knows how well she can wield her sword-and a whole assortment of other weapons- and he certainly isn't about to forget about the time she gave him a powerful uppercut for (supposedly) killing Cake.

But it isn't until he witnesses her fighting Simoné for the first time that he even considers her as a potential threat.

At first, it's nothing more than your typical fight. Fionna is pulling off more rad moves than he cares to count, trading insults with a livid Ice Queen. Nothing out of the ordinary- not until the Ice Queen takes a low blow and mocks Fionna's crush on Prince Gumball.

"'Oh, look at me! I'm thirteen and in love with you, Gumball! Marry me!' Is it any wonder he doesn't love you? You're too young!" She cackles.

Fionna knocks out the Ice Queen in record time, flushing angrily. "She's one to talk! Always going after princes too young for her…." She mutters as she walks away, closely followed by a grateful Bubba and a slightly disheveled Cake.

Marshall Lee decides that maybe he shouldn't tease her too hard in the future, lest Fionna decide to turn that anger on him.

* * *

**End Note:** This is set before their relationship starts, when Fionna still has a crush on Gumball. Most likely a one time thing.

**Word Count (including quote):** 232


	4. Blessing Four- Smile

_"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."_

_-John Barrymore_

* * *

If there's anything Fionna has learned in the time she has known Marshall Lee, it is that he rarely smiles.

That's not to say that he is an unhappy person- of course not! It's just that a true, genuine smile from Marshall Lee is extremely rare.

Smirking? He's all for that. (Fionna secretly thinks that it's his default face position.) A slight quirk to his lips? Frequent. But smiling? Fionna has only seen him smile a handful of times.

And as hard as she tries to make him smile, it's really the little things that make it appear. Like when she comes to visit him in the middle of the night, even though she's spent a busy day adventuring, just so he doesn't have to interrupt his sleep schedule. Or when she brings back red pastries from the Candy Kingdom for him because he's too proud to get them himself. Or when she takes off a day to spend with him, even if the sun is shining and the weather hasn't been that nice in weeks, just because she hasn't seen him for a week.

Marshall Lee has lived for a very long time. But if you asked him, and he was being honest, he would say that he's smiled more when he's around Fionna than in the rest of his life combined. And that means a great deal to both of them.

* * *

**Word count (including quote): **249


	5. Blessing Five- Feather

"_Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."_

_-Bruce Lee_

* * *

This chapter is best started with a blunt truth: Fionna is not the smartest person there is. At least, not when it comes to technical things. Give her ten weapons, and she'll find three ways to kill a monster with each of them. Ask her to rap on the spot, and she'll dream up sick fires like nobody's business. But when it comes to math and science? She has no hope. At all.

But Fionna has known Marshall Lee and Prince Gumball for years, and she knows that it's time that they got over whatever little spat they had in the past. She doesn't know what happened, but they were friends, glob dang it, and they're HER friends! There's no way she's going to let them exchange snide insults every time they see each other. No, they are going to make up.

(Okay, part of the reason she wants them to make up is because if she's ever going to date Marshall Lee, she needs Gumball to like him. She would never hear the end of it from Bubba otherwise, and she wants to be friends with him, too. Not that she would ever tell anyone this.)

And of course, she decides the best way to do this is to invite them both to a sleepover. It takes a lot of coaxing- especially with Cake- but finally everyone agrees to it.

Ever punctual, Gumball arrives first. The first thing he notices is that Fionna is strangely tense and… nervous? (She's right to be scared, of course. Prince Gumball-Marshall Lee encounters never end happily. Not that he knows what's about to happen.) But never the less, he ignores it. He knows full well that something is up- he's known Fionna long enough to recognize when she's hiding something- but decides it's better not to ask. He'll find out soon enough.

It's not until later, though, that Marshall Lee finally floats through the window. As soon as he recognizes Gumball, he freezes, baring his teeth. "Fionna… what is HE doing here? I thought tonight was our sleepover night?"

Gumball regards Marshall Lee with a similar disdain, spitting out his words as though they are poison. "I wasn't aware that we would be in the attendance of such unsavory company, Fionna. I trust you will rid us of his presence?"

This sparks the usual squabble between the two boys, and Fionna sits to the side, exasperated. Already, things are going wrong! (She didn't expect anything different, of course, but one can always dream.) A minute passes, and she's tired of the fighting. Without pausing to consider the consequences, she picks up a pillow and smacks both in the face with it.

"That's enough! You guys are being stupid." She scolds, not letting either of them interrupt her. "I don't know what happened in your past, but you need to get over it! You're my friends, I don't want you fighting every time I want us to hang out together!" She finishes with a huff.

And of course, they look as though they'll start to fight again as soon as she closes her mouth. But Fionna is not about to let that happen, so instead she grabs another pillow and hands one to each of them.

"Here. We're going to have a pillow fight so you can beat the junk out of each other. Then you're done, okay?" She commands.

Gumball looks as though he's going to protest, but Marshall Lee wastes no time in hitting him upside the head with the pillow. "Oh, that's it!" The prince growls, all but jumping on the vampire in an attempt to injure him.

The idea was good enough- when you forgot that this was Marshall Lee and Prince Gumball. And as we mentioned before, Fionna is not always the smartest. So of course she forgot what lengths they would go to prove themselves the better man.

The end result is a trashed living room, a heap of exhausted teenagers, and a light coating of feathers over everything from a multitude of torn pillows.

Fionna is not always the smartest, but maybe, they all think, she's managed to do something right here. Maybe, she's helped them onto the path of becoming friends again.

Well, maybe not. But she tried, and that's all they could have asked for.

* * *

**End note:** A bit of a longer chapter, as per the guest reviewer's request.

In Marceline's fanfiction, it doesn't seem as though the events of 'What Was Missing' ever happened. As such, they never happened here, so Marshall Lee and Gumball didn't bond over that.

**Word count (with quote):** 735


	6. Blessing Six- Tease

_"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said."_

_Peter Drucker_

* * *

The thing about relationships is, you're constantly learning more and more about your partner. Whether it's likes and dislikes, habits and fears, does not matter; in the end, it's all about the knowledge you gain.

But the learning isn't limited to what your partner thinks and does- you also learn how to function in a relationship. And even to people with experience, something new is learned with every significant other.

Marshall Lee is an excellent example of this. He is no stranger to being in a relationship- after all, he dated Ashley for years before they broke up. (There was also that fuzzy time with Gumball where no one knew what their relationship status was, but that's a tale for another day.) But being in a relationship with Fionna? That's a whole new level of uncertainty.

Uncertain because there are so many things he doesn't know about her, even with all the time they spend together. Uncertain because she's a human and therefore is fragile. Uncertain because he doesn't know how many days they have left together (and uncertain because he doesn't know if he _wants_ to know).

But most of all, uncertain because he doesn't know how he's supposed to act around her.

When it comes to Fionna, Marshall Lee communicates best with three things: teasing, flirting, and singing. But he knows full well that relationships depend on clear communication, and sometimes, those things just don't cut it. And this is when Marshall Lee starts to lose confidence.

It takes a while for Fionna to notice, and longer to get the truth out of him. But when Marshall Lee confesses his insecurity, she surprises him.

With a laugh, she says, "Why are you worried? I know you, Marsh, I know what you mean when you start teasing!"

And for the first time, he realises just how lucky he is to have a girl like Fionna.

* * *

**End Note: **Missed a couple days there, due to school. Apologies.

This is shorter than I would have liked, but I didn't want to force it, so here we are.

**Word Count (including quote): **330


	7. Blessing Seven- Pure

"_Each of us is born with a share of purity, predestined to be corrupted by our commerce with mankind."_

_Emile Cioran_

* * *

Marshall Lee knows there are a few ways one can define pure, and that most of these things, Fionna is not.

Pure is Clean; Fionna is more often than not covered in the guts of a freshly slain monster.

Pure is The Truth, and Fionna has told her fair share of lies- both small and large.

Pure is Perfect; flawless. And no one is either of these things, Fionna included.

Pure is Plain, and Fionna is anything but _that._

But even though she slays monsters, even though she is a liar, and even though she is not perfect nor plain, Fionna is pure. Pure of heart and soul and mind. Unable to purposely hurt anything but evil, Fionna is undeniably the purest person Marshall Lee has ever met.

Maybe, he wonders, that's why he likes her so much. After all, they say opposites attract- and Marshall Lee is nowhere near pure. He has killed for the fun of it. He has ended countless lives to rid his boredom, has made even more miserable through deceitful trickery, hell, he almost got Fionna killed a couple times! He is a monster, both in body and mind. There is no way he is anywhere close to pure.

And sometimes he fears that if he gets too close to her, he will bring Fionna down with him.

The next time he holds her in his arms, her body almost but not quite managing to warm his cold skin, her eyes fluttering shut as she struggles to stay awake, he makes a silent promise to them both: he will never allow Fionna to become impure, for her light to be tainted. Because if he does, the only beacon in his dark world will fade, and he doesn't know if he can go back to being in the dark again.

* * *

**End Note: **A lot has been going on for the past week, so I wasn't able to update until today. Sorry about that. Once again, it's shorter than I wanted. I'll try harder tomorrow.

**Word Count (including quote): **325


	8. Blessing Eight- Lie

_"Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them."_

_-Norodom Sihanouk_

* * *

Sweat flows down her temples, the heat of the domain only serving to amplify her exhaustion. The demon swipes at her side, barely managing to nick her as she rolls out of the way. In the back of her mind, she wonders if she's ever bled this much during a battle. It's stained her clothes, the ground, even her own sword. She stops that train of thought before it can go on.

Fionna takes a moment to catch her breath and determine its weak spot. A quick analysis of the enemy reveals that aiming for its giant eye is probably the her best bet- even if it doesn't defeat the enemy, there's a high chance that it'll be blinded temporarily.

Break's over- the demon shoots a bolt of dark lightning at Fionna, so fast that she can't get out of the way before it hits her dead on. Her legs immediately give out as the magic courses through her body. Her grip on the sword loosens, and her only protection falls to the ground with a metallic clang. In a matter of seconds, Fionna is defenseless against the powerful demon.

Her strength fading, Fionna finally feels the debilitating presence of fear. This is a fight, she realises, she might not win.

But that is not an option, not for her. There is too much left for her in Aaa for her to die now! There are too many people she can't leave behind, too many things she has to accomplish, too much evil to be vanquished, for her to die now. At the hand of a demon Marshall Lee defeated without breaking a sweat, no less! There's too much at stake here for her to just _die_.

Gritting her teeth, Fionna props herself up on her elbows. Fighting powerful magic isn't easy- it takes nearly all her strength to do so. Her sword is just an arms-length away, and if she can just grab it-

With a sickening crack, the demon breaks her outstretched arm in its clawed foot. A strangled screech forces its way out of Fionna's throat as she tries to quell the pain in her arm. The demon makes a sound of contentment, its other foot pinning her to the ground.

Time slows down. Fionna is suddenly hyper aware of the sweat coating her face, the blood pouring out of her wounds, the pressure being applied to her back as the demon crushes her against the ground. In this moment, she realises she has lost. It's over. She is not getting out of this alive.

And just as her will to live breaks, Marshall Lee descends from above, tearing the demon off Fionna. With a loud snarl, he engages in battle with the demon. Fionna watches with unfocused eyes, uncertain if what she sees is real or an illusion created by her desire to live.

She doesn't know how much time has passed before Marshall Lee is suddenly beside her, gathering her beaten body in his arms. "Oh Glob Fionna, this wasn't supposed to happen- what were you thinking, fighting a demon on your own?!" His words seem far away, but his voice is so uncharacteristically worried that she almost laughs.

"You said you beat 'im easily… and I heard he was doing some bad stuff… so I decided to beat him too." She forces out, breath uneven. In hindsight, she thinks, it really was a stupid decision, but she couldn't help herself. She never could, really.

He curses loudly. "Fionna, when I said that, I was lying! I never expected you to do _this-_ Glob, this is all my fault- hey, don't you go falling asleep on me!" Her eyes begin to flutter shut, and to his terror he can hear her heartbeat weakening. "Fionna, I'm serious. Listen to me, you can't fall asleep. I don't know what that demon did to you, but you have to fight it. You can't lose now."

She doesn't respond, and Marshall knows that he has to hurry. Grabbing her sword, he takes off towards the portal hidden in the ceiling. "Fionna, please. Make me a promise. Stay awake, don't die on me, okay? Please, Fionna. Promise me you'll stay alive." He says to her urgently.

He begins to worry that she hasn't heard him, until she nods into his chest. "I'm not done yet, Marsh," She says tiredly. A tense silence falls between them as Marshall Lee pushes himself to go faster. Once again, it's broken by Fionna. "Marsh, why did you lie?"

His eyes squeeze shut as he really begins to regret his actions. "I don't know." Pause. "I'm so, so sorry."

She doesn't reply.

* * *

**End Note:** It's been a while. I apologise for that; I've been busy with school, and haven't found the motivation to write. Hopefully this will get me started again.

**Word Count: **792

This is part one of three chronological chapters.


End file.
